Chapter 124 - Treatment

Shou San was quite calm when he told Li Huowang they would honor the deal.

“Fine, I will trust you one more time. I hope that an incident like today’s will never happen again! If you push me to the brink of desperation, then I would rather yield my body to Dan Yangzi and have everyone perish with me!” warned Li Huowang.

When he heard Li Huowang’s threats, Shou San was visibly unhappy; however, all he could do was silently stare at the red-robed Taoist with wariness in his eyes.

Then, under the gaze of the members of the Ao Jing Sect, Li Huowang carried Yingzi off the floor and pulled her back to their cave.

Once they left, Shou San turned toward one of the sect members beside him. While the sect member in question didn’t look any different than the rest, Shou San was very respectful to him. He whispered, “Elder Shen Benyou, you’ve seen the child; what do you think we should do?”

At this moment, one of the elders that Yingzi had told Li Huowang about the night before was present at the scene.

The man stared in the direction Li Huowang had disappeared to. “No, this Strayed One is unlike the others we have met before. You’ve seen his powers; he’s a lot more dangerous than the other Strayed Ones. Don’t provoke him; we will decide on what to do with him after we have probed him further.”

“Yes, this underling understands,” replied Shou San.

Back in their cave, Li Huowang fell onto the ground, his energy completely spent.

Meanwhile, Yingzi stood there, hesitant; the only part of her body that remained intact was one of her arms. When she saw that Li Huowang was still bleeding profusely from his wounds, she carefully approached him. “Sir, are you alright?”

“Hehe... No worries. I won’t die from just this,” said Li Huowang.

When she heard those words, Yingzi’s eyes became filled with determination as she walked over and grabbed the wax-covered book from the side. She held the book and kneeled in front of Li Huowang. “Sir, please endure it. I will now help you with treating your injuries.”

After saying that, she started chanting off the book. Her voice as she chanted was extremely bizarre; it was as if she was imitating the crackling sound of flames.

Floof~

After a moment, the wax-covered book in Yingzi’s hand started burning up.

Soon, the flames melted the white wax before it started dripping onto Li Huowang’s wounds.

Sizzle~

The sound of flesh being burnt echoed in the cave and at the same time, Li Huowang recognized a familiar scent.

At that moment, Yingzi raised the book above her head. At the same time, the fiery wax on Li Huowang’s body came alive and started wriggling around on his body like a worm. As it crawled all over his body, white smoke rose from Li Huowang’s body as a trail of burnt flesh was left in the wake of the wax.

The wax cauterized the wounds on his body, and fused together the deep wound that revealed his bones.

Soon, the wax had circled most of Li Huowang’s body, and finished healing most of his external wounds.

The price of the treatment was naturally the pain he had to suffer through, especially since his sense of pain had been heightened. It was so painful that he almost bit off his tongue; his entire body was drenched in sweat, making it look like he had just passed through a heavy downpour.

But it was not over.

The white wax slowly snaked its way to his face. When Li Huowang realized what it was about to do, he took a deep breath. “Fuck, this treatment is definitely psychotic.”

He took a few rapid breaths before opening his mouth, catching the white wax with his hand, and throwing it into his mouth.

At that moment, Li Huowang finally knew what it would feel like to eat magma. He felt the lump of molten wax slowly sliding down his esophagus. At the same time, the sound of sizzling flesh intensified as billowing white smoke flowed out from all his orifices.

The intense burning sensation was so painful that he rolled on the floor while grabbing at his neck.

After a while, he felt the white wax approaching his stomach, causing him to instantly stop Yingzi with his trembling hand. “Stomach... No need! The wax will not be able to defeat the thing inside my stomach!”

Even though Yingzi didn’t know what he meant, she still listened to him. Soon, the fiery wax exited Li Huowang’s mouth and slowly made its way onto Yingzi’s body before it started cauterizing her fleshless hand.

Ka-chak

At that moment, her hand fell off while the white wax continued to cauterize the open wound, slowly healing it in the process.

Once it was done with its mission, the wax crawled back onto the book and enveloped it. At the same time, the flames disappeared and the wax solidified once again, returning to its original form.

Li Huowang stared at Yingzi who was also covered in cold sweat. “Does it hurt?”

“How could it not? But compared to the day that my siblings died, this pain is nothing...” replied Yingzi.

Hearing this, Li Huowang's eyes fell and he nodded. “Yeah, the pain of the flesh is bearable, but the pain of the soul is not.”

Yingzi, who was now left with only a single arm, said nothing as she supported him back onto the bed.

Staring at her side profile, Li Huowang had no idea what she was thinking. The things she had done were conflicting.

Not sure how much I can trust them, but since they swore on it, I suppose they won’t do anything in the near future?

Li Huowang recalled what Shou San had said.

After a while, both Li Huowang and Yingzi lied down on the stone bed and Li Huowang immediately fell asleep.

While Li Huowang was asleep, he dreamt of many things; however, he didn’t remember anything when he woke up.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Bun excitedly circling around Yingzi as it tried to gain her affection.

“How did you suddenly get so friendly with it?” asked Li Huowang as he sat on the stone stool and ate the breakfast placed on the stone table.

Yingzi’s face was complicated as she stared at Bun, her hand patting Bun’s white paws. “I remembered something. There was a dog living on my street. The old dog had seven puppies and Bun was one of them. I had thought that all of them had died, but to think that it actually survived.”

Li Huowang sighed while staring at Bun excitedly licking Yingzi’s hand. “Such a big town, and yet the only survivors are a single dog and a human. What a crazy world we live in.”

“Sir, why would they want to kill us? Back then, he had supernatural powers and we were nothing but ants in front of him. Was it just because he just didn’t like our looks?” asked Yingzi, her voice trembling as she did her best to suppress her emotions.

Li Huowang sighed. “Who knows. This world often rewards the wicked yet punishes the good.”

Li Huowang and Yingzi conversed for some time. After the incident from yesterday, they had gotten slightly closer.

“Right, what is the name of the book you used to treat me?” asked Li Huowang. He could tell that the treatment was very effective. Even though it was very painful and left scars wherever the wax had crawled, Li Huowang saw that his wounds were mostly healed.

Yingzi took out the wax-covered book from her robes and passed it to Li Huowang. “It’s called the Fiery Sutra. It’s yours if you need it.”